Locking device for a safe door



lCHlRO HORIKOSHI LOCH'KING DEVICE FOR A SAFE DOOR Jan. 13, 1970 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 6, 1968 FIG INVENTbR HoRiKosHi :rcHiRo Jan. 13, 1970 lFHl-RO HORIKOSHI 3, 5

LOCKING DEVICE FOR'A SAFE DOOR I Filed March 6, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR. IcHHig HoRimssl-u United States Patent US. Cl. 292335 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In this locking device of safe door, locking bolts are mounted on the safe door in such a manner as to be retained in retracted position by a retaining lever when the door is open and automatically protruded to fit into the holes of the receiver frame of the safe after having been released from the retaining lever having a lower end adapted to abut with the receiver frame when the door is closed, and then the door is maintained in locked position by means of a known lock means such as a coin controlled lock means. By action of an intermediary pivot member interposed between this locking device of the invention and a known lock means such as coin controlled lock, the latter is not brought into closed position as long as the door is open.

The present invention relates to a locking device of safe door, more particularly to a locking device of safe door used in conjunction with a known lock means such as a coin controlled lock means.

In the prior art lock means designed for rent lockers, a lock is not easily removed for servicing or repairing in case of malfunctions since a locking tongue member is made to protrude out of the side wall of the lock. Also, since locking bolts are constructed to protrude out of the side wall of the door when the door is open, they may cause finished coatings of the safe to be marred oftentimes.

The present invention has been devised to provide a locking device which is operated simply and positively to lock and unlock the door while overcoming abovementioned difficulties.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a locking device of the safe door comprising locking bolts adapted to be retained in a retracted position when the door is open.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a locking device of the safe door enabling a known lock means such as coin controlled lock which is adapted to cooperate with the above-mentioned locking device to be operated by an inserted coin only when the door is closed completely.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a locking device of the safe door comprising locking bolts adapted to be automatically protruded to fit into the holes of the receiver frame of the safe when the door is closed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a locking device of safe door comprising a shaft rotatably mounted on a safe door and having a knob at one end thereof and a locking tongue member fixedly mounted thereon, an actuating lever fixedly mounted on said shaft at the other end thereof and pivotally connected to a slider plate at the other end, said slider plate provided with locking bolts adapted to be fitted into mating holes provided in a frame of safe and with a retainer opening and biased normally in a direction to protrude said locking bolts towards said mating holes by means of a spring provided between said slider plate and a pivot pin con- 3,489,450 Patented Jan. 13, 1970 meeting the same to said actuating lever, and a retainer lever having a hooked end portion at upper end thereof adapted to engage with said retainer opening of said slider plate so as to retain the latter in a retracted position and a lower end portion thereof extended beyond lower edge of the door and adapted to abut with said frame of the safe so as to cause said retainer lever to be rotated about a point intermediate both ends thereof when the door is closed, thereby disengaging said hooked end of the retainer lever from said retainer opening of said slider plate.

Now, one preferable embodiment of the locking device of the safe door according to the present invention will be described in detail by way of example with reference to accompanying drawings, in which,

FIG. 1A is a front view showing the safe having a locking device according to the present invention,

FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing the safe in FIG. 1A with the door in half-opened condition,

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section view taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1A,

FIG. 3 is a vertical section view taken along a line III-III in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is another vertical section view taken along a line IV--IV in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is a view in enlarged scale showing two positions of the locking tongue member of the locking device according to the present invention with reference to the cooperating locking tongue member of the known coin controlled lock.

Referring to drawings, particularly FIG. 1, a safe or locker is designated by A and provided with a door B hingedly mounted thereon. The locking device according to the present invention is mounted on the door B of the safe.

As shown in FIG. 2, a coin controlled lock means 1 is fixedly mounted on the door B. The coin controlled lock means 1 will operate to bring its locking tongue 1a (FIG. 2) into a locking position when a coin is thrown therein and a key is inserted and turned. The coin controlled lock means per se will not form part of the present invention. As shown by solid lines in FIG. 5, the locking tongue member 1a has its tip end disposed flush with outer surface 1b of the side wall of housing member of the lock means in a locked position.

A shaft 2 is rotatably mounted on the door B with an outer and inner sleeve 23, 25 interposed therebetween. A retainer ring 26 having a flange is provided to retain both sleeves in position. A knob 3 is provided on the shaft 2 at the front end thereof. A first locking tongue member 4 is fixedly mounted on the shaft 2 immediately behind the knob 3. The first locking tongue member 4 is arranged to cooperate with a second locking tongue member 1a of the coin-controlled lock means 1 so as to lock the locking device according to this invention in closed position. As shown in FIG. 5, a pivot lever 5 having upper end thereof pivoted on the door is inserted between the first and second locking tongue member so as to pivot between locked and unlocked position.

An actuating rod 6 is fixedly mounted on theshaft 2 adjacent to rear end of the latter and provided with a slot or elongated opening 611 at the end remote from the shaft 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, a slider plate 7 is slidably mounted on the door B in the rear side thereof and provided with a cut-out portion 7a, through which the rotating shaft 2 and a bushing 8 mounted thereon are passing. A nut 24 is threaded on the shaft 2 at the rear end thereof. A pivot pin 9 is provided on the slider plate 7 in the upper right-hand corner thereof and has one end inserted into the elongated opening 6a of the actuat ing lever 6. Support portions 7b are formed on the slider plate 7 at the top and bottom part thereof in the left side in FIG. 3 so as to mount locking. bolts 10 which will fit into mating openings 22 of the safe body A (FIG. 2). A retainer opening 7c is provided on the slider plate 7 so as to engage with a hooked end portion 15a of retaining rod 15, which will be described hereinafter.

The slider plate 7 is normally biased in a direction to protrude the locking bolts by means of a spring 11 having one end connected to anchor piece 12 on the slider plate 7 and the other end connected to the above-mentioned pivot pin 9.

As shown in FIG. 4, 2 cover plate 13 is secured in the door B by means of bolts 20 and provided with bent portions 13a and 13b respectively in the upper and lower portion thereof. A bracket 14 is mounted on the bent portion 13 of the cover plate 13. A retainer lever 15 is pivotally mounted on the bracket 14 in the middle of its length so as to pivot about a pin 16. A guide strip 19 is provided on the cover plate 13 so as to guide the retainer lever 15 in the upper part. A hooked portion 15a is formed at the top end of the retainer lever 15 so as to engage with the retainer opening 7c which has been described hereinabove. The hooked end portion 15a of the retainer lever 15 is normally urged to press against the slider plate 7 by means of a spring 17 having one end secured to the pin 16 and the other end anchored on the retainer lever 15 intermediate both ends thereof.

A bolt 28 is provided to secure the cover plate 13 to the rear plate 27 of the door B and carries a guide roller 18 rotatably mounted thereon and having a guide groove 18a so as to guide the slider plate 7.

A recessed portion 21 is provided on the framework of the safe so as to accommodate the lower end 15b of the retaining lever 15 (FIG. 4). A shoulder 21a is formed at the innermost end of the recessed portion 21 so as toabut with the lower end 15b of the retainer lever 15 to disengage the hooked end 15a of the latter from the retainer opening 70 of the sliding plate 7 by rotating clockwise the retainer lever 15 about the pin 16 in FIG. 4, when the door is closed. FIG. 1B shows the retainer lever 15 mounted on the door B.

Now, operation of the locking device according to this invention will be described hereinafter.

In FIGS. 2-4, the door B is shown in the closed position, the locking bolts 10 fitted into the mated opening 22 provided in the framework of the safe A and the hooked end portion 15a of the retainer lever 15 pressed against the slider plate 7. Corresponding to this closed position, the first and second locking tongue members 4, 1a and the depending pivot member are shown respectively in solid line positions in FIG. 5. It is noted in this condition that the tongue member 1a of the lock means 1 will not protrude beyond the surface of the side wall thereof.

When the coin is thrown into the lock means 1 and the key is turned to open the latter, the tongue member 1a will be brought into open position, that is, dotted line position in FIG. 5. In this condition, since the pivot member 5 is moved to the dotted line position in FIG. 5, the locking tongue member 4 can be turned clockwise as shown in FIG. 5. In this condition, if the knob 3 is turned clockwise in FIG. 2, the shaft 2 and the actuating lever 6 will be rotated clockwise together. Accordingly, the slider plate 7 will be moved to the right against the bias of the spring 11 in FIG. 2, thereby causing the locking bolts to be retracted from the mated openings 22. When the slider plate 7 is moved to the right until the retainer opening 70 comes to the position where the hooked end a of the retainer lever 15 is located, the retainer lever 15 will be rotated counterclockwise by means of the spring 17 and then the hooked end 15a will be fitted into the retainer opening 70 of the slider plate 7. Then, the door B is brought into open condition. At this time, th knob 3 is prevented from being rotated by action of the retainer lever 15.

When closing, it is only necessary to move the door in closing direction. When the door is brought into closed position, the lower end 15b of the retainer lever 15 will come to abut with the shoulder 21a provided in the recessed portion 21 of the frame of the safe and then the retaining lever 15 will be turned clockwise against the bias of the spring 17 as shown in FIG. 4, thereby causing the hooked end 15a of the retainer lever 15 to be withdrawn from the retainer opening 70 of the slider plate 7. Accordingly, the slider plate 7 is moved to the left by action of the spring 11 in FIG. 3, thereby causing the locking bolts 10 to be fitted into the mated opening 22 of the safe. At this time, since the rotating shaft 2 is also rotated automatically, the locking tongue member 4 will be brought into solid line position in FIG. 5. In this condition, when the locking tongue member 1a of the coin controlled lock means 1 is brought into solid line position, that is, locked position in FIG. 5, the locking tongue member 4 will be fixed into closed position through intervention of the pivot member 5, thereby preventing the knob 3 from being rotated clockwise in FIG. 3. In this manner, the door B is completely brought into the locked position.

According to the present invention, following advantages can be derived:

(1) The locking bolts will not protrude from the side wall of the door when the door is open. Accordingly, the finished coating of the safe will not be marred by any protruding member when the door is open.

(2) Since the locking tongue member 1a of the coin controlled lock means is prevented from being turned to the closed position by means of the pivot member 5 and the locking tongue member 4, the coin controlled lock means cannot be operated when the door is in open condition.

(3) Since the locking tongue member 1a of the coin controlled lock means is constructed in such a manner as to be disposed flush with the side wall of the housing of the lock means, that is, not to protrude out of the surface of the side wall of the housing in a locked condition, the whole unit of the coin controlled lock means can be removed for servicing or repairing in case of malfunctions.

What is claimed is:

1. A locking device for a safe door comprising a shaft rotatably mounted on a safe door and having a knob at one end thereof and a locking tongue member fixedly mounted thereon, an actuating lever fixedly mounted on said shaft at one end thereof and pivotally connected to a slider plate at the other end, said slider plate provided with locking bolts adapted to be fitted into mating holes in a frame of safe biased normally in a direction to protrude said locking bolts towards said mating holes by means of a spring provided between said slider plate and a pivot pin connecting said plates to said actuating lever, said slider plate having a retainer opening, and a retainer lever having a hooked end portion at the upper end thereof and adapted to engage within said retainer opening so as to retain the plate in a retracted position and a lower end portion thereof extended beyond lower edge of the door and adapted to abut with said frame of the safe so as to cause said retainer lever to be rotated about a point intermediate both ends thereof when the door is closed, thereby disengaging said hooked end of the retainer lever from said retainer opening of said slider plate.

2. A locking device for a safe door described in claim 1, wherein said locking tongue member fixedly mounted on said shaft is adapted to be retained in locked position through intervention of a pivot bar by means of another locking tongue member of a coin controlled lock means, said pivot bar being pivotally mounted on the door and adapted to swing in a space between said both locking tongue members.

3. A locking device for a safe door described in claim 1 further comprising a cover plate mounted on the door in the rear side thereof and having bent portions in the upper and lower part thereof, a bracket fixedly mounted on the lower part of said cover plate for providing a support for said retainer lever, and a spring provided on said retainer lever so as to urge the latter in a direction to have said hooked end portion of the retainer lever pressed against the slider plate.

4. A locking device for a safe door described in claim 1, wherein said slider plate is provided with a cut-out portion intermediate upper and lower end thereof so as to have said shaft passed therethrough.

5. A locking device for a safe door described in claim 1, wherein a guide ring is provided on the door in the rear side thereof for guiding said slider plate which is horizontally moved by means of the shaft.

6. A locking device for a safe door as described in claim 1, further comprising a guide stripmember mounted on said cover plate so as to guide upper part of the retainer lever when pivoting.

7. A locking device for a safe door as described in claim 1 wherein an elongated opening isprovided on said 20 actuating lever at the end where the latter is connected to said slider plate so as to have said pivot pin passed therethrough.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,054,782 3/ 1913 Matthews 292-173 2,162,929 6/ 1939 Armstrong 292-335 2,344,45 1 3 1944 Parkhurst 292-335 2,481,459 9/ 1949 Whitney 292-153 FOREIGN PATENTS 586,769 1/ 1925 France. 1,058,872 6/1959 Germany.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner R. L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner 'U.S. Cl. X.R. 292-161, 173 

